http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rssAlex Schroeder: Travellerhttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Diary
kensanata@gmail.com\n
kensanata@gmail.com\n
The Homepage of Alex Schroeder.Fri, 09 Dec 2016 13:50:14 GMTFri, 09 Dec 2016 13:50:14 GMTOddmusePermission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.htmlhttps://alexschroeder.ch/pics/alex.pngAlex Schroeder: Travellerhttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki
Highgatehttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2015-09-13_Highgate
https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2015-09-13_Highgate<p>Brett Simpson used my <a class="url http outside" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/svg-map">SVG Mapper for Traveller</a> to generate a little booklet for the subsector he&#x2019;s been working on.</p><p><a href="https://flic.kr/p/yz1vvK" class="url http"><img class="url http" src="https://alexschroeder.ch/pics/21376960225_7e5848c6aa_c.jpg" alt="https://alexschroeder.ch/pics/21376960225_7e5848c6aa_c.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="https://flic.kr/p/yz1vvK" class="url http">Highgate</a> by Brett Simpson</p><p>Brett says: &#x201c;There is no need to add a link to a page, as the only pages I have are unrelated to role-playing.&#x201d;</p><p>Tags: <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=RPG">RPG</a> <a class="feed tag" title="Feed for this tag" rel="feed" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/feed/full/RPG"><img src="https://alexschroeder.ch/pics/rss.png" alt="RSS" /></a> <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=Traveller">Traveller</a> <a class="feed tag" title="Feed for this tag" rel="feed" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/feed/full/Traveller"><img src="https://alexschroeder.ch/pics/rss.png" alt="RSS" /></a> <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=SVG%20Mapper">SVG Mapper</a> <a class="feed tag" title="Feed for this tag" rel="feed" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/feed/full/SVG%20Mapper"><img src="https://alexschroeder.ch/pics/rss.png" alt="RSS" /></a></p>Sun, 13 Sep 2015 08:28:28 GMThttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Comments_on_2015-09-13_HighgateAlex Schroedernewmajor1https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=history;id=2015-09-13_Highgatehttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=browse;diff=1;id=2015-09-13_HighgateRPGTravellerSVG MapperMore about the Mashuphttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-10-19_More_about_the_Mashup
https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-10-19_More_about_the_Mashup<div class="right" style="float: right"><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kensanata/8102076024/" class="url http"><img class="url http" src="https://alexschroeder.ch/pics/8102076024_67c3d07001.jpg" alt="https://alexschroeder.ch/pics/8102076024_67c3d07001.jpg" /></a> </p></div><p>Today I posted about my Planescape-Spelljammer-Traveller mashup <a class="url http outside" href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/112496081196492342580/posts/dmNwGwHfSjn">on Google+</a> and I was asked to say more about it.</p><p>Basically the players got hold of a <b>Spelljammer</b> ship to sail the astral sea. It was one of the classic ships: a Mindflayer Nautilus class called the <em>Black Strangler</em>. Basically the astral sea is what Planescape has as the sea at the bottom of Celestia. When I read about the astral plane, the big wheel and all that, I was confused and I figured the players would be as well. Instead I opted for something alike Marion Zimmer Bradley&#x2019;s travel to Avalon: get on a boat, travel for a bit, use some magic and you can be elsewhere. I think the astral sea is how D&amp;D 4E does it as well?</p><p>Anyway, so we have a &#x201c;sea&#x201d; and &#x201c;islands&#x201d; on it – or basically worlds, systems. It already starts to sound like a bit of Traveller. Many of them will have gates linking them with larger worlds – fantastic worlds inspired by Planescape: hells, elemental planes, alternative prime material worlds. A bit like Philip José Farmer&#x2019;s <a class="near" title="Wikipedia" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_of_Tiers">World of Tiers</a>, perhaps?</p><p>One world, for example, is non-magical except for the gate that leads to the astral sea. So they built a fortress in the astral sea and discovered that magic works on the other side. Now they use it like a space station or star port to manufacture mundane stuff that requires magic to be built.</p><p>All these small worlds, astroids and stations get an UWP and I feed it to my <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Traveller_Subsector_Mapper" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Traveller Subsector Mapper</a> to produce a nice map. Check out <a class="url http outside" href="http://emacswiki.org/svg-map?map=Tu%20Akhra%200404%20D0602B3-1%20P%20%C2%A0As%20De%20Lo%20Lt%20R%0aSusrael%200503%20B0604A4-1%20N%20%C2%A0As%20De%20Lt%20NI%20A%0aNova%20Genova%200607%20B867686-1%20N%20%C2%A0Ag%20Ga%20Lt%20NI%20Ri%0aHinia%20Oot%200705%20E060200-1%20As%20De%20Lo%20Lt%20A%0aAffeninsel%200308%20E064105-0%20Lo%20Lt%0a;wiki=http%3a%2f%2fcampaignwiki.org%2fwiki%2fF%25c3%25bcnfWinde">the astral sea map</a> and click on the systems to go to the campaign wiki pages.</p><p>I think my greatest inspirations from the web where the <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=One_Page_Dungeon" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">One Page Dungeon</a> submission <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=The_Forgotten_Depths" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">The Forgotten Depths</a> by the author of <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=The_Metal_Earth" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">The Metal Earth</a> and the session reports on <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Planet_Algol" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Planet Algol</a>. Nevertheless my campaign took a while to evolve to this place. At first it was very traditional <em>Wilderlands of High Fantasy</em>. Then we explored the first few levels of <em>Dismal Depth</em>, the <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Fight_On" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Fight On</a>! megadungeon and a bit of <a class="url http outside" href="http://www.barrowmaze.com/">Barrow Maze</a>. And when a player character fell into an &#x201c;infinite pit&#x201d; and another player character threw himself after the first one (<a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-06-19_Alignment%2c_Paladins">picture</a>), I decided to push it to a new level.</p><p>Oh, and the Google+ post was me saying that I was working out the domain stats for the region using the rules from <em>An Echo Resounding</em> (<a class="url http outside" href="http://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?t=21979">interesting comparison of An Echo Resounding and Adventure Conqueror King</a>). I hope my players aren&#x2019;t overwhelmed by my sneaky introduction of these domain rules. I think the two key phrases I heard last session justifying this move were &#x201c;I think we&#x2019;ll keep Monkey Island as our base!&#x201d; and &#x201c;Can we benefit somehow from reopening the mine on Monkey Island?&#x201d;</p><p>Tags: <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=RPG">RPG</a> <a class="feed tag" title="Feed for this tag" rel="feed" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/feed/full/RPG"><img src="https://alexschroeder.ch/pics/rss.png" alt="RSS" /></a> <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=Old%20School">Old School</a> <a class="feed tag" title="Feed for this tag" rel="feed" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/feed/full/Old%20School"><img src="https://alexschroeder.ch/pics/rss.png" alt="RSS" /></a> <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=Spelljammer">Spelljammer</a> <a class="feed tag" title="Feed for this tag" rel="feed" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/feed/full/Spelljammer"><img src="https://alexschroeder.ch/pics/rss.png" alt="RSS" /></a> <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=Planescape">Planescape</a> <a class="feed tag" title="Feed for this tag" rel="feed" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/feed/full/Planescape"><img src="https://alexschroeder.ch/pics/rss.png" alt="RSS" /></a> <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=Traveller">Traveller</a> <a class="feed tag" title="Feed for this tag" rel="feed" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/feed/full/Traveller"><img src="https://alexschroeder.ch/pics/rss.png" alt="RSS" /></a></p>Fri, 19 Oct 2012 07:38:42 GMThttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Comments_on_2012-10-19_More_about_the_MashupAlexSchroedernewmajor1https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=history;id=2012-10-19_More_about_the_Mashuphttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=browse;diff=1;id=2012-10-19_More_about_the_MashupRPGOld SchoolSpelljammerPlanescapeTravellerTraveller Maps for Campaign Wikihttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-10-17_Traveller_Maps_for_Campaign_Wiki
https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-10-17_Traveller_Maps_for_Campaign_Wiki<p>Since I&#x2019;m apparently going to use my <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-10-11_Traveller%2c_Spelljammer%2c_Planescape">Spelljammer-Planescape-Traveller</a> map for a while, I added a way to make map display even easier on <a class="url http outside" href="https://campaignwiki.org/">Campaign Wiki</a> pages.</p><p>Write &#x201c;Traveller:&#x201d; followed by the <abbr title="Universal World Profile">UWP</abbr> like this:</p><pre class="real">Traveller:
Tu Akhra 0404 D0602B3-1 P As De Lo Lt R
Susrael 0503 B0604A4-1 N As De Lt NI A
Nova Genova 0607 B867686-1 N Ag Ga Lt NI Ri
Hinia Oot 0705 E060200-1 As De Lo Lt A
Monkey Island 0308 E064105-0 Lo Lt</pre><p>And the result will be this:</p><p><a class="image noborder outside" href="http://emacswiki.org/svg-map?map=Tu%20Akhra%200404%20D0602B3-1%20P%20%C2%A0As%20De%20Lo%20Lt%20R%0aSusrael%200503%20B0604A4-1%20N%20%C2%A0As%20De%20Lt%20NI%20A%0aNova%20Genova%200607%20B867686-1%20N%20%C2%A0Ag%20Ga%20Lt%20NI%20Ri%0aHinia%20Oot%200705%20E060200-1%20As%20De%20Lo%20Lt%20A%0aMonkey%20Island%200308%20E064105-0%20Lo%20Lt%0a;wiki=http%3a%2f%2fcampaignwiki.org%2fwiki%2fF%25c3%25bcnfWinde"><img class="upload" title="Traveller and Spelljammer" src="http://emacswiki.org/svg-map?map=Tu%20Akhra%200404%20D0602B3-1%20P%20%C2%A0As%20De%20Lo%20Lt%20R%0aSusrael%200503%20B0604A4-1%20N%20%C2%A0As%20De%20Lt%20NI%20A%0aNova%20Genova%200607%20B867686-1%20N%20%C2%A0Ag%20Ga%20Lt%20NI%20Ri%0aHinia%20Oot%200705%20E060200-1%20As%20De%20Lo%20Lt%20A%0aMonkey%20Island%200308%20E064105-0%20Lo%20Lt%0a;wiki=http%3a%2f%2fcampaignwiki.org%2fwiki%2fF%25c3%25bcnfWinde" alt="Traveller and Spelljammer" /></a></p><p>Klick to switch to the map. There, you can click on the systems to get the wiki pages.</p><p>Tags: <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=RPG">RPG</a> <a class="feed tag" title="Feed for this tag" rel="feed" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/feed/full/RPG"><img src="https://alexschroeder.ch/pics/rss.png" alt="RSS" /></a> <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=Traveller">Traveller</a> <a class="feed tag" title="Feed for this tag" rel="feed" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/feed/full/Traveller"><img src="https://alexschroeder.ch/pics/rss.png" alt="RSS" /></a> <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=Maps">Maps</a> <a class="feed tag" title="Feed for this tag" rel="feed" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/feed/full/Maps"><img src="https://alexschroeder.ch/pics/rss.png" alt="RSS" /></a></p>Wed, 17 Oct 2012 19:36:59 GMThttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Comments_on_2012-10-17_Traveller_Maps_for_Campaign_WikiAlexSchroedernewmajor1https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=history;id=2012-10-17_Traveller_Maps_for_Campaign_Wikihttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=browse;diff=1;id=2012-10-17_Traveller_Maps_for_Campaign_WikiRPGTravellerMapsTraveller, Spelljammer, Planescapehttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-10-11_Traveller%2c_Spelljammer%2c_Planescape
https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-10-11_Traveller%2c_Spelljammer%2c_Planescape<div class="right" style="float: right"><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kensanata/7698864396/" class="url http"><img class="url http" src="https://alexschroeder.ch/pics/7698864396_86ca1d8e91_n.jpg" alt="https://alexschroeder.ch/pics/7698864396_86ca1d8e91_n.jpg" /></a> </p></div><p>I finally decided that the <em>Astral Sea</em> needed a map. <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-06-19_Alignment%2c_Paladins">One of the player characters</a> decided to pursue his quest to revive <em style="font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0.125em; padding-left: 0.125em;">Arden</em>, the dead elven god. His corpse is being drained of its remaining life force by the sorcerer queen of the gray elves (<a class="near" title="Wikipedia" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Githyanki">Githyanki</a>). His corpse is also drifting in the <em>Astral Sea</em>. A gate was found (<a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-05-30_Bottomless_Pit">a bottomless pit in the Barrowmaze</a>), a ship was gained (pictured on the right), and now the party is sailing the <em>Astral Sea</em> <a class="near" title="Wikipedia" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spelljammer">Spelljammer</a> style and finding places in the <a class="near" title="Wikipedia" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planescape">Planescape</a> fashion. 👌</p><p>Anyway, I was wondering how many <em style="font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0.125em; padding-left: 0.125em;">random encounters</em> I should be rolling for any trips from A to B. I should draw a map, I thought. I remembered my <a class="url http outside" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/svg-map">Traveller Subsector Mapper</a>. All I had to do was to generate an UWP for my locations.</p><p>Easy:</p><pre class="real">Tu Akhra 0404 D0602B3-1 P As De Lo Lt R
Susrael 0503 B0604A4-1 N As De Lt NI A
Nova Genova 0607 B867686-1 N Ag Ga Lt NI Ri
Hinia Oot 0705 E060200-1 As De Lo Lt A</pre><p>I basically ignored the requirement for an atmosphere of 0 to generate the asteroid trade code. All these worlds have breathable air. Plugging this into the mapper:</p><p><a class="image noborder outside" href="http://campaignwiki.org/svg-map?map=Tu+Akhra+++++0404+D0602B3-1++P++As+De+Lo+Lt++++R%0D%0ASusrael++++++0503+B0604A4-1++N++As+De+Lt+NI++++A%0D%0ANova+Genova++0607+B867686-1++N++Ag+Ga+Lt+NI+Ri%0D%0AHinia+Oot++++0705+E060200-1+++++As+De+Lo+Lt++++A&amp;wiki=http%3A%2F%2Fcampaignwiki.org%2Fwiki%2FNameOfYourWiki%2F&amp;generate=Generate+Map&amp;.cgifields=trade"><img class="upload" title="Astral Sea" src="http://campaignwiki.org/svg-map?map=Tu+Akhra+++++0404+D0602B3-1++P++As+De+Lo+Lt++++R%0D%0ASusrael++++++0503+B0604A4-1++N++As+De+Lt+NI++++A%0D%0ANova+Genova++0607+B867686-1++N++Ag+Ga+Lt+NI+Ri%0D%0AHinia+Oot++++0705+E060200-1+++++As+De+Lo+Lt++++A&amp;wiki=http%3A%2F%2Fcampaignwiki.org%2Fwiki%2FNameOfYourWiki%2F&amp;generate=Generate+Map&amp;.cgifields=trade" alt="Astral Sea" /></a></p><p>Tags: <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=RPG">RPG</a> <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=Old%20School">Old School</a> <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=Spelljammer">Spelljammer</a> <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=Planescape">Planescape</a> <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=Traveller">Traveller</a></p>Fri, 12 Oct 2012 00:06:07 GMThttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Comments_on_2012-10-11_Traveller%2c_Spelljammer%2c_PlanescapeAlexSchroedernewmajor1https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=history;id=2012-10-11_Traveller%2c_Spelljammer%2c_Planescapehttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=browse;diff=1;id=2012-10-11_Traveller%2c_Spelljammer%2c_PlanescapeRPGOld SchoolSpelljammerPlanescapeTravellerMixing Fate and Skill Challengeshttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2010-09-23_Mixing_Fate_and_Skill_Challenges
https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2010-09-23_Mixing_Fate_and_Skill_Challenges<p>I&#x2019;m running a biweekly <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Diaspora" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Diaspora</a> game in a Traveller Subsector. The party had just crash landed on a planet after being shot down by a gunship using space combat rules and made it to the base on a sort of social combat map with the opponents being earthquakes, a sea monster, and a patrol of aliens. Inside the base, they saw the overgrown and partly disassembled remnants of the ship that had brought the alien infection to the system and decided they were going to hook their diplomat-hacker up with the central nervous system running the base. I asked the table whether they felt like another map and combat but Harald reminded me of another technique I often use: Just go around in a circle and ask each of the players what they&#x2019;ll do to help solve the problem.</p><p>Four players, four rolls. I said you need at least two successes. First attempt by Thomas at finding a quiet corner fails spectacularly. The aliens get spin. Second attempt by Florian at fighting the immune system of the mega-organism fails spectacularly. The aliens get spin. Third attempt by Harald at hooking up the hacker fails spectacularly. The aliens get spin. Whoa!! The last roll comes up and I ask for the stakes. What&#x2019;s going to happen when Jörg fails? I say he&#x2019;s going to be taken over and integrated into the base if he fails. He says &#x201c;w00t!?&#x201d; He doesn&#x2019;t want to take the consequences for all the earlier failures. Harald volunteers to take a severe consequence that would change his result into a success &#x2013; &#x201c;infected by an alien mind&#x201d;. Yay!! Jörg manages to reprogram the alien factory in order to make the resulting ship something they can use. Victory!</p><p>As the session was about to end, I give the diplomat-hacker the following choice:</p><ol><li>will you try to get off-world as quickly as possible with the intelligence you gathered, ie. leave safely but without resolving the situation? No fight, no loot, minimal plot advancement.</li><li>will you man the ship as soon as possible, head over to the wreck of the old ship to rescue an ancient artifact, delaying long enough that you&#x2019;ll have to fight your way out of the system? One space combat, but save artifact.</li><li>will you confuse the three ships in the system in order to gain enough time to penetrate the central nervous system of the base, eliminate the threat, and then try to get off the system? One personal combat, and one ship combat, but resolve situation.</li></ol><p>They picked #3 – Alien 2 style. So proud. <img class="smiley" src="http://www.emacswiki.org/pics/smile.png" alt=":)" /></p><p>Tags: <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex?action=tag;id=RPG">RPG</a> <a class="feed tag" title="Feed für diesen Tag" rel="feed" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex/feed/full/RPG"><img src="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex/pics/rss.png" alt="RSS" /></a> <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex?action=tag;id=Traveller">Traveller</a> <a class="feed tag" title="Feed für diesen Tag" rel="feed" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex/feed/full/Traveller"><img src="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex/pics/rss.png" alt="RSS" /></a> <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex?action=tag;id=Diaspora">Diaspora</a> <a class="feed tag" title="Feed für diesen Tag" rel="feed" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex/feed/full/Diaspora"><img src="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex/pics/rss.png" alt="RSS" /></a> <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex?action=tag;id=FATE">FATE</a> <a class="feed tag" title="Feed für diesen Tag" rel="feed" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex/feed/full/FATE"><img src="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex/pics/rss.png" alt="RSS" /></a></p>Thu, 23 Sep 2010 10:49:49 GMThttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Comments_on_2010-09-23_Mixing_Fate_and_Skill_ChallengesAlexSchroedernewmajor1https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=history;id=2010-09-23_Mixing_Fate_and_Skill_Challengeshttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=browse;diff=1;id=2010-09-23_Mixing_Fate_and_Skill_ChallengesRPGTravellerDiasporaFATEFrom Traveller to Diasporahttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2010-07-14_From_Traveller_to_Diaspora
https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2010-07-14_From_Traveller_to_Diaspora<p>Bye bye Traveller category – our gaming group has decided to give <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Diaspora" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Diaspora</a> a try!</p><p>What happened?</p><ul><li>One player left the campaign because he&#x2019;s working in Berlin during the week and can&#x2019;t play in Zürich on Wednesdays.</li><li>Another player said that the campaign wasn&#x2019;t really working for him.</li><li>That leaves only three players – and one of them very busy – and a game master.</li><li>I said that I felt the system was pushing us into micro-managing things we only cared for on an abstract level; basically we weren&#x2019;t interested in anything involving money: trade, maintenance costs, equipment costs, etc.</li><li>Three of us had given <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Spirit_of_the_Century" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Spirit of the Century</a> a try; we liked FATE but didn&#x2019;t like the rulebook.</li><li>Harald and I had read the Diaspora book and liked it.</li></ul><p>Today we had three hours. First we discussed the state of the campaign and decided to switch to Diaspora. I printed out character sheets, skill reference sheet, personal combat sheet while Harald explained a bit about the rules. Then we converted our Traveller characters. It went pretty smoothly. The free form aspects are a real boon.</p><p>We assigned a system to each one of us, and said that we&#x2019;d convert the UWP to the Diaspora stats on our <a class="inter Campaign" href="http://campaignwiki.org/wiki/Kaylash/HomePage"><span class="site">Campaign</span><span class="separator">:</span><span class="interpage">Kaylash</span></a> subsector wiki. We&#x2019;ll convert them as we go. Technology, Environment, Resources, and three aspects, that should not be too hard. We already have a map and a lot of info on some of the systems.</p><p>I don&#x2019;t think we need a Diaspora cluster. Perhaps I&#x2019;m missing something? The benefit of having small clusters might be a localized game suited for people that like to switch campaigns often? We&#x2019;ve been playing our biweekly game for a year, now. I think we want to keep playing in this subsector and we want to keep exploring our characters for quite a bit more.</p><p>Wish us luck! <img class="smiley" src="http://www.emacswiki.org/pics/smile.png" alt=":)" /></p><p>Tags: <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex?action=tag;id=RPG">RPG</a> <a class="feed tag" title="Feed für diesen Tag" rel="feed" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex/feed/full/RPG"><img src="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex/pics/rss.png" alt="RSS" /></a> <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex?action=tag;id=Traveller">Traveller</a> <a class="feed tag" title="Feed für diesen Tag" rel="feed" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex/feed/full/Traveller"><img src="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex/pics/rss.png" alt="RSS" /></a> <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex?action=tag;id=Diaspora">Diaspora</a> <a class="feed tag" title="Feed für diesen Tag" rel="feed" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex/feed/full/Diaspora"><img src="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex/pics/rss.png" alt="RSS" /></a> <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex?action=tag;id=FATE">FATE</a> <a class="feed tag" title="Feed für diesen Tag" rel="feed" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex/feed/full/FATE"><img src="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex/pics/rss.png" alt="RSS" /></a></p>Wed, 14 Jul 2010 21:24:32 GMThttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Comments_on_2010-07-14_From_Traveller_to_DiasporaAlexSchroedernewmajor1https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=history;id=2010-07-14_From_Traveller_to_Diasporahttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=browse;diff=1;id=2010-07-14_From_Traveller_to_DiasporaRPGTravellerDiasporaFATEUpdated Traveller Mappinghttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2010-05-20_Updated_Traveller_Mapping
https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2010-05-20_Updated_Traveller_Mapping<p>My <a class="url http outside" href="https://campaignwiki.org/svg-map">SVG Mapper for Traveller</a> got a bit better regarding <b>communication routes</b> (at least compared to <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2010-03-12_Traveller_Communication_Lines">last time</a>).</p><p>It uses a two-step process:</p><ol><li>it connects all the systems with a class A starport, a naval base, or an imperial consulate that are one or two parsecs from each other</li><li>any system with an amber or red travel code will eliminate all connections except the ones to the best and closest starport</li></ol><p>I&#x2019;m still working on the trade routes. At the moment it looks <a class="url http outside" href="http:/alex/pics/svg-map-with-too-many-trade-routes.svg">way too busy</a>, so I&#x2019;m trying to think of an elimination step that will get rid of some of them again. Anyway, I have some working code, but it needs some improvement before I&#x2019;ll deploy.</p><p>I also fixed the spinward/trailing labels. I had them confused!</p><p>Note for the curious: If you check the link you&#x2019;ll also find a source link at the bottom. It&#x2019;s <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Free_Software" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Free Software</a>. Enjoy! <img alt=":)" class="smiley" src="data:image/png;base64,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" /></p><p><b>Update</b>: Trade routes now added!</p><ol><li>considering only systems that offer fuel: starport A-D, gas giant, or Wa trade code</li><li>connecting trade codes In or Ht with As, De, IC, or NI within 4 parsecs using a jump-2 route</li><li>connecting trade codes Hi or Ri with Ag, Ga, or Wa within 4 parsecs using a jump-2 route</li><li>but in the end, when I have the trade graph (which is part of the SVG but invisible in case you want to look at it using <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Inkscape" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Inkscape</a>), I use <a class="near" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kruskal's_algorithm" title="Wikipedia">Kruskal's algorithm</a> to create a minimal spanning tree based on the subset of legal trade routes thanks to a suggestion by <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Joshua_Bell" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Joshua Bell</a></li></ol><p><b>Later</b>: I suspect that there are still bugs in the system. It generates an unpopular trade route between Labeveri and Sogeeran, but as far as I can tell, there is no reason for it to exist. Must debug&#x2026; Hm&#x2026; Nope. Everything is as it should be. If you check the debug output (there&#x2019;s a new checkbox) you&#x2019;ll find that the system participates in other trade-routes as well:</p><ul><li>Inedgeus - Biveer - Sogeeran</li><li>Biveer - Sogeeran</li><li>Diare - Aanbi - Sogeeran</li><li>Reisbeon - Aanbi - Sogeeran</li><li>Lara - Aanbi - Sogeeran</li><li>Lalala - Bemaat - Sogeeran</li><li>Azaxe - Lara - Aanbi - Sogeeran</li><li>Biveer - Sogeeran - Onreon</li><li>Labeveri - Sogeeran - Onreon</li></ul><p>Phew! <img alt=":)" class="smiley" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAABAAAAAQBAMAAADt3eJSAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAgY0hSTQAAeiYAAICEAAD6AAAAgOgAAHUwAADqYAAAOpgAABdwnLpRPAAAACFQTFRFAAAAAAAAHRkAiHUA07YA+tgAZFYA/90AWU0Aj3sA////jG0orwAAAAF0Uk5TAEDm2GYAAAABYktHRApo0PRWAAAAbUlEQVQI12NgYGAUFBRgAAJGZdcQIxBLLLy8vDQRKJBeUV7eXibAwBReWF4uXqrAIFwOYpQbMohAGI4MouVgEMggWgiixQMZRErEy8sL3R2BiieWl0sCFTOFVwoKTgdqZ0wHqQEaCLcCYSnUGQB7ciGbohFtcwAAACV0RVh0ZGF0ZTpjcmVhdGUAMjAxNC0wNy0wM1QxNDo0Nzo0NiswMjowMAcO4yYAAAAldEVYdGRhdGU6bW9kaWZ5ADIwMTQtMDctMDNUMTQ6NDc6NDYrMDI6MDB2U1uaAAAAAElFTkSuQmC" /></p><p>Tags: <a class="outside tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=Traveller" rel="tag" title="Tag">Traveller</a> <a class="outside tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=Maps" rel="tag" title="Tag">Maps</a> <a class="outside tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=RPG" rel="tag" title="Tag">RPG</a></p>Thu, 20 May 2010 15:55:13 GMThttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Comments_on_2010-05-20_Updated_Traveller_MappingAlexSchroederupdatedmajor3https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=history;id=2010-05-20_Updated_Traveller_Mappinghttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=browse;diff=1;id=2010-05-20_Updated_Traveller_MappingTravellerMapsRPGThe Sound of Travellerhttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2010-05-16_The_Sound_of_Traveller
https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2010-05-16_The_Sound_of_Traveller<p>What music would you use for your Traveller?</p><ul><li> I tried <b>Star Wars</b> and it was too weird. </li><li> I tried the German <b>Captain Future</b> soundtrack by Christian Bruhn and it worked ok. </li><li> GM Harald used <b>Macross</b> it worked just fine. </li><li> More Jazz? I have a small number of so-called <b>Science Fiction Jazz</b> CDs. I no longer like the music that much; I wonder whether it would work for Traveller. </li><li> Maybe <b>Ghost in the Shell</b> has enough weirdness, Jazz, and Asian gibberish we don&#x2019;t understand to work as a background? It would require better preparation. </li><li> Vangelis&#x2019; <b>Bladerunner</b> soundtrack? </li><li> *Cowboy Bebop*? Perhaps the sound of the future is not technoid after all.</li></ul><p>I&#x2019;ve seen DM Peter a Computer RPG game soundtrack for an entire campaign. There was our intro theme, our combat theme, and a small number of selected tracks for selected scenes. Perhaps picking a small number (three?) of tracks per session, and another small selection (two?) tracks per campaign would work?</p><p>Tags: <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=RPG">RPG</a> <a class="feed tag" title="Feed for this tag" rel="feed" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/feed/full/RPG"><img src="https://alexschroeder.ch/pics/rss.png" alt="RSS" /></a> <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=Traveller">Traveller</a> <a class="feed tag" title="Feed for this tag" rel="feed" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/feed/full/Traveller"><img src="https://alexschroeder.ch/pics/rss.png" alt="RSS" /></a> <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=Music">Music</a> <a class="feed tag" title="Feed for this tag" rel="feed" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/feed/full/Music"><img src="https://alexschroeder.ch/pics/rss.png" alt="RSS" /></a></p>Sun, 16 May 2010 23:21:08 GMThttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Comments_on_2010-05-16_The_Sound_of_TravellerAlexSchroedernewmajor1https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=history;id=2010-05-16_The_Sound_of_Travellerhttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=browse;diff=1;id=2010-05-16_The_Sound_of_TravellerRPGTravellerMusicTraveller Bureaucracyhttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2010-05-12_Traveller_Bureaucracy
https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2010-05-12_Traveller_Bureaucracy<p>I&#x2019;m spending about an hour after each Traveller session (itself usually 2½h) updating our <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Kaylash" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Kaylash</a> campaign wiki with notes on money made for trading, money spent for repairs, maintenance, salaries, etc. It&#x2019;s a lot of bureaucracy. <a class="url http number" href="http://campaignwiki.org/wiki/Kaylash/Handelslog"><span><span class="bracket">[</span>1<span class="bracket">]</span></span></a></p><p>Unlike D&amp;D 3+ where players can spend a lot of time away from the table thinking about their character and tweaking it, Traveller seems to be the game where players can spend a lot of time away from the table thinking about their ship&#x2019;s finances.</p><p>I&#x2019;m not sure I like it. Right now we&#x2019;ve been rotating game masters, so I&#x2019;ve been recharging my creative energies, but once I return to running games, I might not feel like updating the site. My players don&#x2019;t seem too interested in it, and yet the rules <em style="text-decoration: underline; font-style: normal;">afford</em> spending a lot of time on it &#x2013; just like D&amp;D 3+ rules encourage players to spend time tweaking their characters.</p><p>You&#x2019;re not required to do it, but the rules invite you to do it.</p><p>Tags: <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex?action=tag;id=RPG">RPG</a> <a class="feed tag" title="Feed für diesen Tag" rel="feed" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex?action=journal;full=1;search=tag:RPG"><img src="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex/pics/rss.png" alt="RSS" /></a> <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex?action=tag;id=Traveller">Traveller</a> <a class="feed tag" title="Feed für diesen Tag" rel="feed" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex?action=journal;full=1;search=tag:Traveller"><img src="http://www.emacswiki.org/alex/pics/rss.png" alt="RSS" /></a></p>Wed, 12 May 2010 22:44:13 GMThttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Comments_on_2010-05-12_Traveller_BureaucracyAlexSchroedernewmajor1https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=history;id=2010-05-12_Traveller_Bureaucracyhttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=browse;diff=1;id=2010-05-12_Traveller_BureaucracyRPGTravellerTraveller Communication Lineshttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2010-03-12_Traveller_Communication_Lines
https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2010-03-12_Traveller_Communication_Lines<p><a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2010-02-28_Traveller_Subsector_Coding_Hell">Last time</a> I said I was going to improve the <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Traveller_Subsector_Mapper" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Traveller Subsector Mapper</a> I had written to show communication lines. Well, now it does. But I&#x2019;m still not happy. My unhappiness just moved on.</p><p>I&#x2019;m now looking at some sort of algorithm that will &#x201c;simplify&#x201d; the network. Take a look at the sample subsector. I&#x2019;d like this algorithm to delete the connection between Bemaat and Atcevein and the connection between Esgeed and Maxereis. Those I think should be obvious. Less obvious would be to delete the connection between Diare and Esgeed and between Atcevein and Esgeed.</p><p>I&#x2019;m still struggling, however. What should the exact elimination rules be?</p><blockquote><p> For every code amber and code red system, eliminate all but one communications route. The one and only communications route from such a system should go to the system with the best starport, the closest one, with the most people, and the richest, with no code amber or red. </p></blockquote><p>This would make the following changes:</p><ol><li>Labeveri will only connect to Sogeeran &#x2013; good</li><li>Diare will only connect to Atcevein &#x2013; good</li><li>Esgeed will only connect to Usmabe &#x2013; good</li><li>Azaxe will remain unchanged since it only has one connection</li><li>Onbebior is not actually connected to anything, it&#x2019;s just in the way</li></ol><p>Or I could try something else.</p><blockquote><p> Every system will keep the shortest communications routes it has. </p></blockquote><ol><li>Biveer and Labeveri will remain connected but loose connections to Sogeeran &#x2013; good</li><li>Bemaat will remain connected to Diare and loose the connection to Sogeeran; Sogeeran will have none left &#x2013; good</li><li>Atcevein will remain connected to Diare and loose the connection to Bemaat and Azaxe &#x2013; not so good; Azaxe wants to remain connected&#x2026; I think that&#x2019;s the same problem that Sogeeran has. It wants to connect to all the neighbours two parsecs away, but they all have partners that are but one parsec away.</li></ol><p>Hm, I don&#x2019;t think this is going to work.</p><p>Tags: <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=RPG">RPG</a> <a class="feed tag" title="Feed for this tag" rel="feed" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/feed/full/RPG"><img src="https://alexschroeder.ch/pics/rss.png" alt="RSS" /></a> <a class="outside tag" title="Tag" rel="tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=Traveller">Traveller</a> <a class="feed tag" title="Feed for this tag" rel="feed" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/feed/full/Traveller"><img src="https://alexschroeder.ch/pics/rss.png" alt="RSS" /></a></p>Fri, 12 Mar 2010 23:13:36 GMThttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Comments_on_2010-03-12_Traveller_Communication_LinesAlexSchroedernewmajor1https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=history;id=2010-03-12_Traveller_Communication_Lineshttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=browse;diff=1;id=2010-03-12_Traveller_Communication_LinesRPGTraveller